Ferrari Owners' Club Australia

Ferrari Club of Australia

Ferrari Club Australia began in 1972 as The Australian Ferrari Register, making it one of the oldest clubs in the world.

Because of Australia’s isolation, our first contact with Ferrari, outside the pages of motor racing magazines, was when some of the retired racing cars came here after they were no longer competitive in Europe in the 50′s and 60′s. Little were these owners to realise how valuable these cars would eventually become and they were frequently left in sheds or dismantled for parts once their racing days were over. Australia’s fastest speedboat of the 60′s was powered by the engine from a 1950′s Ferrari GP car (it’s now been reunited with the correct chassis).

Ferrari Club Australia is highly active and has a passionate and enthusiastic membership. Events are run all over the country and include track days, rallies, concours d’elegance, drive days, social gatherings and just about any excuse we can think of to use our cars and mix with our friends. Many members have been with the club for over 25 years and many still own the car they purchased when they first joined. New cars and owners are equally welcome and just about every event attracts a wonderful blend of models from early V12′s and Dinos through to F430, 612 and 575′s.

Our members take great pride in the presentation of their cars and all our concours events are keenly contested but our real emphasis is on driving, with regular track events being a long-standing club tradition. We publish several, quality club journals and interstate friendships, formed over many years of attendance at our much-loved annual rally, are an important part of our culture.

In a clear case of history repeating itself, we are just starting to see a trickle of older competition cars coming into Australia (F40LM, F50LM, F333SP, Challenge cars of all models etc.) and hope this continues to boost the numbers of important, later cars at our events.

Australians are great followers of F1 and just like everywhere else around the globe, Ferrari is the favourite team. Whenever our club gathers, the recognition and respect our cars receive from the general public is very heart-warming and reminds us how lucky we are to be the custodians of these wonderful pieces of automotive history.

Later, cars like 250GTE’s and 275 GTB’s were imported and raced with some success in open sports car fields and gradually, the performance and elegance of Ferrari’s road cars became more widely known. In the 60′s, Australia and New Zealand hosted a wonderful series for open wheelers known as The Tasman Series. This attracted many of the top F1 stars and constructors, including Ferrari who sent specially upgraded F2 cars and drivers like Chris Amon and Derek Bell, during the European winter. At about this time, David McKay imported a brand new 250LM (6321) which quickly became a crowd favourite, winning almost everything it entered, over a number of years. This much-loved car is now owned by Ralph Lauren. It was quickly followed by an ex-Can Am 4.2 ltr P4 (0858) that perhaps wasn’t ideal for our sprint racing formats and was sold to Paul Hawkins and later owned by David Piper.

These exotic cars really put Ferrari on the map in Australia. From an initial group of 14 dedicated enthusiasts in 1972, Ferrari Club Australia now boasts over 700 members (about 40% of all Ferrari owners) and a fantastic array of cars reflecting Ferrari’s complete history, from the beginning. We can boast just about the highest, per capita, Ferrari ownership in the world.

Lettera del Presidente

Tony File

Dear friends in the Ferrari community,

Let me introduce you to the Ferrari Club of Australia.

We are one of the oldest Ferrari clubs around the world, having been formed in 1972 and we hope, one of the friendliest and most active. We have over 700 members and operate as a national body, with each of Australia’s five largest states having a local chapter to manage the social aspects of their member’s enjoyment of the Club. Once a year, we hold a major national rally that draws cars and members from all over our huge country and these are much anticipated and well attended by our members.

Per capita, Australia has always boasted a high number of Ferrari and over the years many important older cars have resided here. Being a right hand drive market, there has always been a solid trade in cars between Australia and the UK.

We have many wonderful examples of most Ferrari road cars although unfortunately, just about every important Ferrari competition car has been exported to the UK or USA over the last ten or fifteen years. Our club members include many world renowned experts in the older cars and the quality and originality of restorations done both here and in nearby New Zealand matches anything in the world.

Traditionally, the main concours events for Ferrari have always been conducted by our club and these are always of very high standard. Our judging techniques tend toward the UK style, favouring originality and rewarding preservation ahead of perfection. Most of our members, even those with concours winning cars, tend to use them enthusiastically and we run a busy schedule of drive days, track days, rallies etc. in every state.

Motor racing has always been a popular sport in Australia and we have produced many drivers and cars that have succeeded internationally. Our circuits tend to be European in style and we don’t do any oval racing. Many of our members raced or rallied cars as younger men and track days and high driving standards are very popular in our club. We are fortunate to have access to many fine tracks and a bunch of enthusiastic owners that love driving their cars. Many later model, used Challenge cars are now finding their way to Australia and boosting the numbers of very quick cars at our track days.

Australians are great travellers and our members attend all the major international events in numbers, every year. Just a few years ago, 120 of our members travelled as a group to the 2004 PebbleBeach celebration of Ferrari and made many new friends. In late 2005, our major street rally, Classic Adelaide, honoured Ferrari and over 30 cars came from all over the world to participate. They were joined by more than 70 local cars and this made for a wonderful display, with full factory support from Ferrari.

I would like to extend an open invitation to any member of the international Ferrari community visiting Australia to make contact with us. You will be made very welcome and invited to join any of our events or functions that coincide with your visit.